Let's be honest, TV is the greatest invention ever. A rather sweeping statement when you consider some of the other contenders, but you can't watch X-Factor, SpongeBob, 24 and the latest series of The Sopranos on an internal combustion engine or a flushing toilet, can you?

Indeed, TV is now so ridiculously entertaining, with so many fantastic digital channels, it's difficult keeping up with your favourite shows. Yes, you can show-off and invest in a Sky+ box, but you have to keep paying for that even after you've shelled out for the unit itself. Then of course there's Freeview, with its impressive range of freebie digital channels. But you can't do all that pause/rewind live TV, record two channels simultaneously malarkey with that, can you? Well, yes, you can if you get hold of the amazing Topfield PVR.

This ingenious little box of tricks is essentially two Freeview digiboxes and a multifunctional 160GB hard drive in one. This means that as well as receiving loads of spectacularly captivating digital channels you can do all those fancy-pants Sky+ recording tricks without any subscription fees or unsightly dishes.

Using the Topfield you can record two Freeview channels at the same time whilst watching two others simultaneously (picture within a picture-style) as well as pause and rewind live TV. Perfect if you need to pop out for a cuppa or watch that wonder goal again and again. And just think, you'll never have to hunt down a blank tape or dvd at the last minute ever again. Amazing!

You can even record and link entire series using the Topfield's idiot-proof timers. All you do is hit a couple of buttons and the Topfield will automatically record every episode of your favourite show, until you tell it to stop. So you could, in theory, record an entire season of Richard and Judy AND the Paul O' Grady Show without bunking off work early every day. It's like being in charge of your own fully-customisable TV station! Think of it as Freeview+. And with a whopping 88 hours of recording time, you can store an immense backlog of shows and movies before you need to erase that clip of Chico off X Factor doing the splits.

If all that doesn't impress, try this on for size: the Topfield can be connected to your PC via USB 2.0. As well as periodically upgrading software this allows you to transfer stored TV shows to your PC so that you can burn them to DVD. You can also transfer downloaded MP3 files from your PC onto the Topfield's hard disk for viewing on your main telly. Bye, bye social life!

The tech press are going gaga over the Topfield, which is hardly surprising because this user-friendly gizmo will totally revolutionise your TV-watching life. Never again will you utter "There's nothing on tonight" or "I think the tracking's out." Speaking of which, you can start making room for the Topfield now by chucking your VCR in the bin.

The Topfield is even Top-Up TV compatible, so you can pay for extra channels on top of the existing free-to-view Freeview channels. The Sky might be the limit, but the Topfield's capabilities are infinite. So come on, treat your telly to a Topfield PVR. Because these days, TV's just too good to miss.

The Topfield PVR is available from Firebox priced at £259.95